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Have you ever had a serious close call while driving and then continued your trip once the acute danger had passed? I don’t think that it’s that rare for pilots or drivers to continue after a close shave.

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The point is not that he merely continued flying, but that he made the same reckless decision to fly over the mountains a second time. Most people who have a close call on the road drive with more care afterward.

well, the first attempt was reckless because they didn't have enough altitude. the second attempt was with more altitude, ie. "driving with more caution"

And he made the second pass with 500' to spare. Daaaaang.

Yeah, exactly. That's one wind gust away from disaster. I question that pilot's assessment of risk.

Possibly, heading over the pass was the return route to the airfield. (Pure speculation on my part.)

This is the flight: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n65440#35fd8c29

He was flying to a different airport from the one he took off from. It's possible he was way past the point of no return and had to make it over the pass or emergency land in the mountains.

Link dead, but on the track I saw earlier he wasn't even close to halfway to the destination when he regrouped for his second attempt.

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